Causes of Women and Girls' Tendency to Facial Cosmetic Surgery in Zanjan City: A Phenomenological Study

The tendency for beauty has been prevalent for centuries. The emphasis of social culture on female beauty has gradually led to concerns and caring more about looks and appearance; the individuals of different ages undergo cosmetic surgery, incur high financial costs, and tolerate unpleasant physical and psychological consequences. Thus, this study aimed to determine the motivations of women and girls to undergo cosmetic surgery.

The present research was interpretive phenomenological study. The study population included girls and women who underwent cosmetic surgery in Zanjan. Using purposive and snowball sampling methods, fifteen individuals were selected as sample. The semi-structured interviews were conducted with them. The qualitative data were collected, recorded, coded, and classified into main themes and sub-themes. Finally, the Colaizzi method was used to analyze the data.

The findings showed that the intrapersonal factors including negative body self-concept, social anxiety, striving for superiority, low self-confidence, fear of aging, and aesthetic assessment of body, the family factors including spouse satisfaction and fear of being compared to beautiful women, and the social factors including social pressure, class identity, media advertising, role modeling of friends, group compliance, and fashionism were the respondents' motivations to undergo cosmetic surgery.

Based on the findings, it is recommended that women and girls be evaluated psychologically before cosmetic surgery and undergo educational-therapeutic interventions in order to improve their self-confidence, reduce their negative self-concept, social anxiety, and fear of aging, improve their interpersonal and marital relationships, and change their attitudes and beliefs to overlook media influence, social pressures, and fashionism.